


Bad End

by Seylum



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Death, F/M, Heart Break, Mourning, Please don’t hurt me, female WoL, first piece of writing in a loooooong time, that tweet made me feel things and I have regrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 14:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21321406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seylum/pseuds/Seylum
Summary: Based off of the heart breaking tweet by surfacage titled Bad End. https://twitter.com/surfacage/status/1189895370320404480
Relationships: Alisaie Leveilleur & Warrior of Light, Alphinaud Leveilleur & Warrior of Light, G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch & Original Character(s), G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch & Warrior of Light, G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 28





	Bad End

**Author's Note:**

> Please be gentle, this is the first thing I have written since I was in middle school almost fifteen years ago LOL But I saw the art and just needed to do it

He stared blankly ahead of him, eyes wide in shock as he squeezed the body of the Warrior of Light in his arms. "This can't be happening," he whispered to himself.

_ He lost. _

_ He risked everything to save _ ** _one person_ ** _ , and he lost her anyway while he still lived on. _

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” he sobbed, caressing her white hair. “It should have been me!”

He looked down at the lifeless body in his arms, burning the memory of his failure into his mind. Her once lavender hair was now a brilliant white from the enormous light corruption that flowed through her, streaks of that same light stained her cheeks as it leaked out of her closed eyes while a trickle of light and blood was at the corner of her mouth.

“Exarch!!”

G’raha was ripped from his own grief stricken world and looked up to the Scions who were all watching him now, but his eyes fell to Alisaie. Her cheeks were wet with tears, but there was a fire in her eyes as she had one hand on Alphinaud’s back while he hung his head and sobbed silently.

“She did this _ for you _,” she barked. “The entire purpose of all of this was to save her! And now… And now…” her voice trailed off as a fresh stream of tears rolled down her face. 

_ What was he supposed to say? _

_ She was right. _

_ Everything he had done up to this point was to save the one person that meant the most to him. She meant everything. And now she was gone. _

An echoed cackle ripped him from his thoughts as Hades interrupted the group in mourning.

“You were foolish to believe that there was going to be any ending to this where your _ Hero _escaped her fate,” the darkness around them swelled as he laughed. “You sealed her fate the moment you brought her here, Exarch.”

A growl rumbled through G’raha’s chest as Hades mocked him; the overwhelming anguish eating away at him being fueled by a consuming rage and desire for vengeance on the Ascian that tore her from him.

“Hades!!”

G’raha once again looked down at the broken form of his warrior and pressed his lips to her forehead before gingerly resting her body on the ground, “I need to do this,” he whispered. Grabbing his staff from beside him he stood, ready to face the darkness that surrounded them.

“Your reign of torment ends here! You have taken enough from me... from _ us _, and I will not permit you to take anything more.”

He walked towards the Scions and tapped his staff on the ground, creating a barrier around them. “Remain here; I will end this.”

Hades laughed again, a large hand reaching for G’raha as he continued his approach, “What do you think _ you _ can accomplish when even your _ Hero _ was no match for me!?”

_ I have nothing else here. _

_ This will be my final chapter in this story. _

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and in an instant he deflected Hades’ hand with a swing of his staff and a flash of light.

“Crystal Tower,” he murmured. “Grant me your power one last time!”

In that moment he felt the aether flow through him and the power begin to swell. This would be it, his vengeance for losing the one thing that mattered most to him. 

_ I will be with you soon… My love. _

He tapped his staff on the ground and the aether poured out of him, filling the dark void that surrounded them. Through the flashes of light tears could be seen rolling down his cheeks and turning to crystal to serve as a reminder of what he’d lost.

* * *

“Alisaie, you know he refuses to see anyone.”

“Don’t try to stop me, Alphinaud! It’s been months! He’s not the only one who _ lost someone _ that day, and enough is enough.”

Alisaie darted through the crowds of people of the Crystarium en route to the Dossal Gate while Alphinaud tried his best to keep up behind her, a worried look across his face. She was angry, he understood that; she had been angry since that day.

When they reached the gate, it was closed off as it had been for months now, with Lyna guarding the entrance. She sighed and crossed her arms when she saw the twins approaching … Again. Alisaie stopped in front of her, arms folded across her chest and brow furrowed. Behind her was Alphinaud with a hand on his hip and the same worried expression he wore every time Alisaie was like this.

“Alisaie…” Lyna sighed. “You know that he will not permit anyone to enter the tower; we’ve been through this time and ⏤”

“I will not take no for an answer, Lyna. Let us pass,” Alisaie barked, taking a step around Lyna who matched her stride. “Don’t you realize that he had every intention of joining her that day? Have you even tried to check on him? He needs someone to snap him out of it, and if you’re not going to do it then get out of my way so that I can do what needs to be done.”

Alphinaud grabbed Alisaie’s elbow in silent resistance but Alisaie pulled from his grasp. “Alisaie…”

“No! Not this time!”

Alisaie glared at Lyna who was avoiding her eyes, “He’s not… He’s not the only one who lost her that day…”

Lyna’s eyes widened and her arms dropped to her sides in defeat. With a sigh, she moved to the side allowing the twins passage, “I’m never going to hear the end of this.”

Alisaie marched past Lyna with fierce determination towards the large doors of the tower, while Alphinaud trailed behind, giving Lyna a sympathetic smile as he passed. “She will never say it, but you have our thanks."

* * *

G’raha stood alone in the Ocular, watching the confrontation between Alisaie and Lyna unfold in front of the Crystal Tower until Lyna finally let the twins pass by her. 

_ These twins will never let an old man grieve in peace. _

He sighed and with a wave of his staff the mirror was blank, save the reflection of himself, which he grunted at as he turned away, disgusted by the person he saw in the mirror. A failure and broken husk of a man with crystal tears forever embedded into his cheeks to serve as a reminder of what he couldn’t accomplish.

There was a hard knock at the door of the Ocular followed by the sound of Alisaie’s voice, “Exarch, it’s us! We’re coming in!”

He pulled his cowl back over his head as the door opened and the silver haired twins stormed in.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he stated flatly. “I made it very clear that when I found any information to bring your souls back to The Source that I —“

“That is not why we’re here and you know it,” Alisaie interrupted, walking towards him with her fists clenched.

She stopped in front of him, inches away, and glared at the man hiding again behind a cowl. Seeing her this close she looked different; the tragedy changed her that day. And gods know that she let the rage she felt fuel every action she made.

But before he could open his mouth to bid them leave, she slapped him, knocking the cowl off of his head. “You need to stop this! You cannot waste away the remainder of your days locked in this tower.”

G’raha turned to face her again and an audible gasp escaped Alisaie’s lips.

“Exarch… Your face,” Alphinaud noted as he approached the two of them.

G’raha pulled his cowl back over his head and turned to face the mirror behind him.

“You were correct with your words, Alisaie. I am not the only one who lost her that day. But losing her meant losing everything, and when I attempted to kill Hades and leave this world to join her? … I failed there as well, with nothing but this crystal to remind me of the loss. Of the failure.”

The twins stood in silence, knowing full well what he had tried to do that day. They should have stopped him, they should have told him to take her body and leave the rest to the Scions.

“Now I ask you to leave,” he said curtly, turning towards them. “And leave me to endure the torment of my failure and the ghost that haunts me.”


End file.
